There was a drop in COVID-19 cases reported in the Kamloops local area between the week of Oct. 3 and Oct. 9, according to new data from the BC Centre for Disease Control.

There were 131 cases in the area which includes the City of Kamloops as well as Logan Lake, Savona, Tobiano, Chase, Sun Peaks, Barriere, Little Fort and communities in between, down from 226 the week before.

Cases in the Kamloops area reached a record 270 during the week of Sept. 5 to 11, before dropping to 158 the week of Sept. 12 to 18. Then came two successive weeks of increases to 219 cases between Sept. 19 and 25, and 226 cases last week, before this week’s slight decrease.

Elsewhere, in the Central Okanagan, which includes Kelowna, there were 186 cases reported last week, down from 223 the week before.

Both the Kamloops and Kelowna area have an average daily rate of between 10.1 and 15 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people

Weekly case counts in the Merritt LHA remain high at 24, though it was down from 43 last week, which remains at an average daily rate of more than 20 COVID-19 cases per 100,000 people.

There were also a similar daily rate in Salmon Arm (86), the Cariboo/Chilcotin (67), 100 Mile (48), and the South Cariboo (11).

The Vernon area reported 63 cases last week with three cases in Lillooet, and one in the North Thompson.

Case counts also remain extremely high on a per-capita basis in northern B.C., with the Prince George local health area reporting 284 cases – down from 328 last week.

The Surrey local health area in Fraser Health had the most weekly COVID cases at 329 though it paled in comparison on a per-capital basis to the 289 cases in the Chilliwack area and 244 cases in the Abbotsford area as the Fraser Valley continues to be a COVID-19 hotspot in the province.

Across B.C., parts of the Central Coast, the Princeton, and the Kootenay Lake local health areas reported no new cases last week.

A full map of last week’s COVID-19 case count by locations can be found here.